Among numerous churches in Ukraine one finds various sects of the Russian Orthodox Old Believers Church. In fact, there are 73 religious communities, 2 monasteries, and 42 priests representing the Belaya Krinitsa, Bezpopovtsy (Priestless) Novozybkivska, and other sects. This year the Old Believers of the Belaya Krinitsa sect (called “convention”) are marking an important event, the fifteenth anniversary of the ordination of Metropolitan Alimpy of Moscow at the head of ROOBC.
Old Believers date from the seventeenth century when the Church Council of Moscow (1666-67) excommunicated Russian Orthodox believers refusing to accept Patriarch Nikon’s liturgical reforms (making the sign of the cross using three, not two fingers, bowing from the waist, not to the ground, use of eight- and six-pointed crosses, etc.). Part of the faithful, the Old Believers, considered the reforms dictatorial and refused to accept the new church rules, adhering to ancient Orthodox rituals. Before long the church confrontation turned into persecution of Old Believers; troops appeared on the scene, dissenters were purged and later deprived of civil rights.
Three centuries later, in 1971, the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church completely rescinded all the seventeenth century anathemas and recognized the full validity of the old rites. Still, both churches remain at odds.
I first met with Old Believers at Kyiv’s Church of the Dormition several years ago and was amazed at the parishioners’ intellectual level; they were well-read and knew what they were talking about. To all my questions I received well grounded answers and they were happy to produce old folios to point out the relevant quotations, demonstrating fundamental knowledge of the Scriptures and writings of the Church fathers. This intellectual tradition must have formed under the conditions when one had constantly to prove one’s point and protect one’s creed. One historical example seems particularly eloquent.
The persecution of Old Believers begun by Alexis I was continued by his son Peter I with special cruelty (small wonder that the Old Believers would regard all tsars after the Church Council of 1666-67 as antichrists). Yet the use against them of armed force and ruthless punishment did not produce the expected result, and the authorities eventually resorted to ideological weapons. Missionaries from Orthodox monasteries were sent to Old Believers’ refugee communities on the outskirts of the empire and to their small secluded monasteries beyond the Volga and in the Far North. They would travel from settlement to settlement, monastery to monastery, telling the Old Believers that their creed had long been condemned by the Church. Every such missionary carried with him the relevant literature, leaflets, etc.
At that time the Moscow Patriarchate issued a book titled Deyaniya [Deeds] that also existed in numerous handwritten copies. It looked like an ancient moth-eaten manuscript, every parchment page written in Old Church Slavonic. It contained the resolutions (“deeds”) of the 1157 Church Council of Kyiv, and the Chapter “Council Resolution Concerning the Heretical Monk Martin” was especially useful for the missionaries. It condemned the heretic’s teaching which was close to the Old Believers’ views. The missionaries were willing to let everyone read the Deeds, for it showed that the Church had condemned deviations from the Greek tradition even at the time of Kyiv Rus’.
According to the Deeds, the 1157 Church Council was presided over by Metropolitan Constantine (Kostiantyn) of Kyiv under Prince Rostyslav Mstyslavych. Monk Martin, summoned to the Council, refused to recant his heterodoxy, was unanimously condemned, and sent to Constantinople. A special church council was called there and also condemned him as an heretic, excommunicated him, and handed him over to secular authorities. Martin died at the stake. The story was meant as a lesson for the Old Believers.
The Deeds was shortly followed by the 500-page Pomorskiye Otvety [White Sea Commentaries]. Numerous handwritten copies were made and quickly spread among the Old Believers’ communities. The Commentaries was composed by the brothers Denisov, founders of the Vigorets hermetic community, and modern researchers believe the manuscript to be the earliest example of paleography in Russia, a brilliant essay on the Deeds, exposing its fraudulent nature.
The Denisovs began by drawing the reader’s attention to the surprising fact that the so-called Kyiv Church Council was not mentioned in any of the chronicles relating to that or later periods; nor was it mentioned by any religious authors, not even by Patriarch Nikon, the implacable opponent of the dissenters who employed all possible means to defeat them. Meanwhile a religious dispute is always a significant event for both the Church and the whole Orthodox community. To prove their point, the authors provided a detailed list of all available chronicles they had referred themselves to.
Further evidence of fraud was the date of the “Kyiv Church Council” (1157) and the allegation that it was called to order under Prince Rostyslav Mstyslavych. The chronicles read that the prince was not in Kyiv at the time; he was enthroned considerably later. Moreover, historical facts showed that Metropolitan Constantine, who allegedly convoked the council, was ordained also after 1157 and then lost the see before Prince Rostyslav took office. The scholarly brothers further studied the Deeds as a manuscript, paying attention to such details as ink, handwriting, covers, and established beyond reasonable doubt that none corresponded to the twelfth century.
Their research caused the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate to quickly withdraw all copies of the Deeds from circulation. They were placed in a special sealed box that was transferred to the synodal library. Historian Vadim Prokofyev believes that the Deeds was made by artisans at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Monastery of the Caves on the personal order of Peter I. One is amazed at how those in power tend to follow the same pattern so monotonously.
